News Briefs

The Supreme Judicial Court has approved a rule allowing Massachusetts law firms to become “limited liability” partnerships and corporations. The proposed rule that was put out for comment by the SJC was published in the Dec. 4, 1995 issue of ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review a Supreme Judicial Court decision barring convicted fugitive radical Katherine Ann Power from profiting financially by discussing her 1970 crime or her 23 years in hiding. The court, without comment, let stand ...

A historic commission has the right to ban newspaper racks from sidewalks in the tony Beacon Hill neighborhood, the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled. The Beacon Hill Architectural Commission sought to ban the boxes, and The Boston Globe went to ...

The U.S. Attorney’s office announced that 1995 was a record-making year for money received from criminal fines, civil penalties, forfeitures and seizures. U.S. Attorney Donald K. Stern said the $58.6 million taken in by his office is equal to nearly ...

The Appeals Court has overturned a lower court’s decision to dismiss an inmate’s suit against the state Department of Correction for forcing him to live with a cellmate who smoked. The court ruled that convicted murderer Anthony Jackson’s lawsuit had ...

Arlington attorney John F. Doyle has been sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 250 hours of community service and two years of probation for his role in a conspiracy to make false statements to obtain approximately ...

The Supreme Judicial Court has turned down an appeal by James M. Kater, allowing preparations to continue for his fourth trial on charges he killed a 15-year-old Raynham girl. The SJC, in a two-paragraph ruling, denied Kater’s motion to exclude ...

Kingston town officials must post a $4 million bond while appealing a court decision that they wrongly demolished a couple’s beachfront home. U.S. District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity rejected the town’s arguments against securing the bond to cover damages ...

Joyce London Alexander will be inducted as chief magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court on Jan. 2. Alexander, the country’s first African-American woman U.S. magistrate judge, was appointed in August 1979. A graduate of Howard University and New England ...

The new Falmouth District Court will open for business on Jan. 2 with the following schedule: * criminal business — Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. * civil motions — Tuesday, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. * civil trials — Tuesday, ...